Welcome to Bountiful Heirlooms:
I have always been a hobby person. I thought that I would document my hobbies -- quilting, decorative painting, cross stitching -- through a blog. I am also a teacher by nature, so I'll be sharing tips, tricks, tutorials and more.

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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Double the Stress-busting Benefits of Tube Time

Turns out that the combination of busy hands (fine-motor activity and handiwork) with TV watching triggers a light meditative state that soothes anxiety (according to a supposed reknowned psychiatrist Norman E. Rosenthal). I don't know how much his study cost, but I could have told him that myself! I rarely watch TV without multi-tasking -- but I'm able to totally de-stress when watching TV while sewing or cross-stitching. (Of course, adding chocolate helps even more!) So, you can justify whatever guilty pleasure you watch on TV (royal wedding? Dancing with the stars? shopping or cooking channels?)

Here's progress on a couple of my de-stressing projects (yes, they were all done with the TV on):

This quilt is totally scrappy. I didn't make any effort to match setting blocks with the chunky churn dash blocks. I kind of matched the appliqued arcs within a single setting block -- but that was it. I love randomy, scrappy quilts like this.

Chunky Churn Dash swap blocks + appliqued setting blocks

Close-up showing machine applique (the Kim Diehl way)

I'm loving this Carriage House Crossing project -- all with one color floss (albeit hand-dyed for the value variation).